One of the main features at Sleepy Hollow outside PE is the old abandoned silver and lead mines dating back to the late 1700's. When we go and camp at Sleepy Hollow we normally take our strong torches along to go for a walk down the old mine shaft. Last time I was there I didn't venture too far in though as I forgot my torch and there were a couple of bats sweeping in and out in the late afternoon. …
The view of the Groot Kerk at the top of Graaff-Reinet's main drag is something you don't sommer forget that easily if you've ever visited this Karoo Heartland town. As you enter the town from the south the church slowly becomes visible at the top of the main road. It looms out above the surrounding buildings as you get closer and suddenly it looks like you're going to drive right into it till the road swings left and circles behind it. The Dutch…
We are busy organising Chaos Boy's 13th birthday party and decided to have a day out with his friends at Sleepy Hollow in the Maitland River Valley. I went to dig out a couple of photos I took at Sleepy Hollow in December when we last popped in there for a visit. I went for a walk up the river with Drama Princess and she is always willing to play the model if I need one for a photo. This…
A couple of weeks ago the Port Elizabeth cachers spent the most amazing weekend at Welgelegen Camp on the Cockscomb Road outside Uitenhage. We enjoyed lots of hiking, lots of caching, lots of laughs and lots of celebrations. Welgelegen Camp normally caters for groups so it was the perfect location for the PE cacher's first big weekend event. Well done to PumTim and Kitchenboss for organizing as well as all the other cachers who had a finger in the organizational pie and attended.The…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aayZEonJRjM?feature=player_embedded]I found this stunning video by Luke Kibble on YouTube. It was shot with a GoPro on a snorkeling outing at Sardinia Bay. Beautiful footage! Think I need to go get the flippers wet before it starts to get too cold.
The Gamtoos River is a very popular fishing destination in the Eastern Cape. A quick trip down to the Gamtoos Mouth had me spending some time on the river banks taking pictures of a couple of boats lying at anchor there. The owner of this one live right across the road and came out to chat to us. Turns out he doesn't use this particular boat for fishing. He uses it to take his boerboel dog across the river to…
Have you ever walked along Kings Beach all the way to the harbour wall? Not? Then I bet you have never seen Kings Beach from this angle. A little while ago I did just that and sneaked onto the harbour wall for a bit till a security guard looked at us funny. So we turned around and I snapped this pic of Kings Beach as we were heading back to the beach.
I find a certain calmness when I get to stroll through a historic cemetery. Its not quite the same soul soothing feeling I get when I am in a forest, but it is better than the hustle and bustle of the city. South End Cemetery was established in 1882 and was one of two large multi-denominational and multi-ethnic cemeteries laid out in Port Elizabeth at the time. The other was North End Cemetery in 1863. At South End a simple fourfold division between the Church of England, Nonconformist, Roman…
Jeffreys Bay is seen as the surfing capital of South Africa with Supertubes being rated as one of the top 10 surf spots in the world. Supertubes is one of the best right hand point breaks in the world and one a good day can break over a distance in access of 300 meters. Swinging past there the other day the conditions were flat with no real break. The coastline is still stunning and with the aloe in picture its…
South Africa's roads have many different road signs. Some you see everywhere and sometimes you get those who crop up and make you do a double take. When it comes to people and animals on the road there are quite a few. Pedestrian crossing signs. Warning signs for cattle, tortoises, children, poth-o-les (I'm not sure what a poth-o-le is and what it looks like though. Must be some kind of nocturnal animal), kudus, cats and even penguins. I have even seen signs with elephants…